Can Three Teams From the West Make the Playoff?

Oct 4, 2014; Starkville, MS, USA; The Mississippi State Bulldogs bench gets up for the game against the Texas A&M Aggies at Davis Wade Stadium. The Bulldogs defeated the Aggies 48-31. Mandatory Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

The SEC West has arguably been the toughest division in all of college football for a number of years. To see Mississippi State tied for an early lead with wins over LSU and Texas A&M is a bit surreal for fans of the Bulldogs. Making that sight even better for Bulldogs fans is the belief by many that the division is as strong as it ever has been and the team is in the top three of the AP rankings with Auburn at number two and tied with Ole Miss at number three.

That has put all three undefeated teams in the West in the discussion for the College Football playoff. As a matter of fact, many have said that if the season ended today, all three would be in. Outside of Danny Kanell, constant SEC troll and continuously labels the Bulldogs and Rebels as fool’s gold,  I have yet to see an analyst or commentator that doesn’t have at least two of the three currently in the Playoff.

The one caveat they all make is that none of them believe all three will be there in the end because the SEC West will cannibalize each other. None of the three teams currently sitting atop the West standings have played each other obviously, so at least two of them will have to take a loss. But is it possible to get all three teams into the playoff?

Let’s just assume for a minute that each of the three take one loss. Let’s also assume that Mississippi State, Ole Miss, and Auburn go 1-1 against each other. If this is their only loss, they would all be 11-1 overall and 7-1 in SEC play. That would create a three way tie. I don’t know how they would do a tiebreaker to determine which team would play in Atlanta. That’s not important right now. If the only teams that they lost to was each other, how do you not put all three in the Playoff?

Is this likely? No. Auburn has an absolutely brutal schedule with road games against Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Georgia, and Alabama. If they come out of that stretch with just one loss, that would be impressive. Ole Miss still has to go on the road to Texas A&M and Arkansas, a place they have struggled at in the past. Mississippi State has road contests at Alabama and Ole Miss, plus a much improved Kentucky gets the Bulldogs in Lexington. Getting just one loss in this schedule will be tough for all three.

It’s also important to point out that people are saying these three teams have earned their way into the Playoff RIGHT NOW. If you look at the Playoff projections, the teams people think will end up in the playoff at the end of the year, most people don’t see any of them in the playoff. Jerry Palm of CBS  and Phil Steele are projecting the same team from the SEC West to get to the playoff: Alabama.

Despite their loss to the Rebels, many still believe the Tide are the team to beat in the West. The Tide still has both Auburn and Mississippi State on their schedule, Nick Saban and his team will have a lot to say about who goes to Atlanta, if they don’t ultimately end up there themselves. Alabama showed some weaknesses, and I really believe it is possible that both Mississippi State and Auburn will beat the Tide. I also don’t see any team in the West escaping without taking a loss along the way.

If things break just right, we might see three teams from the West in the playoff.